Published by Paulie [eatl/ga] on April 15, 2014 07:43 am
under My Daily Life

In packing my gym bag for tonight’s racquetball play I discovered that I could not find my court shoes.

Court shoes?

Yes, “back in the day” I was quite the racquetballer and purchased a pair of Mizuno racquetball shoes. As best as I can figure I accidentally left them at LA Fitness last week when I was going through a bit of concern about my keys (long story).

I was hoping that the shoes’ appearance, dank white with ugly olive laces (a recent addition out of necessity), would dissuade anyone from claiming them. Unfortunately when I stopped into LA Fitness this morning the shoes were nowhere to be found.

I wonder if anyone still produces racquetball shoes?

Today’s Daily ChallengeSpend a moment thinking about a negative life event that led to a positive outcome or change.

Feeling grateful enhances well-being, and by looking at a negative event within a positive framework, you increase your sense of gratitude. This exercise can also prompt you to look for the good in the midst of a bad situation in the future. In other words, if there was an upside once before, there may be one again.

If you consider this blog to be a “positive outcome or change” then you can thank the fucktards who robbed me at gunpoint nearly ten years ago and filled me with enough rage to start blogging.

One Demo Down, Two More To Go
My portion of the demo went fairly well yesterday, with nothing but minor hiccups. Let’s say that I was thankful that I am such a perfectionist that I spent almost every waking hour (and probably many sleeping ones) thinking/working on this project. This is not a lifestyle I’d prescribe to those of you fortunate enough to spend time with other humans, but for social losers such as myself, it seems to work.

With yesterday’s hurdle cleared I have one more HUGE “progress” demo to give in a couple of weeks to ensure that my app will be ready for the “Big Time” also known as Team Summit — a conference of Dish Network retailers held every year. Keep your fingers crossed for me, knowing what I have to accomplish and the time frame in which it must be done I just may need the help.

Not My Average $20 Dinner
When I normally spend $20 (or more) for dinner it includes a large meal and beer. Last night sanity ruled the world and after getting my laundry done I stopped into the Candler Park Market and picked up some salami, cheese, rice thins, and a one-liter bottle of Coke. I took these home and made a meal (one of at least four) from these ingredients — okay, the Coke will only last one more meal but the rest will survive for a third, if not fourth. Not only did I save money, I bet you that I consumed only about half of the amount of calories I would have had I eaten out.

How I Never Met Your Mother
I have a confession, I’ve never seen an episode of “How I Met Your Mother”. With everyone talking about the finale I decided to jump on the posthumous bandwagon and start watching the episodes on Netflix (think my “The Office” crusade from last year).

Boy was I every surprised to see that there are 184 episodes of “How I Met Your Mother”. What a commitment I was about to undertake! I decided that I was up for the challenge.

Have I ever mentioned my disdain for television comedies with laugh tracks?

I lasted five minutes into Season 1, Episode 1 before the laugh tracks telling me what was supposed to be funny ruined it all.

And that’s how I never met your mother.

Taxing Situation
This being April 15th means that it’s “Tax Day” in The States. Ugh. I owe again this year and granted permission to our Government (Hello NSA. How are you today?) to suck more money directly out of my bank account.

I also dropped a check in the mail today for the City of Atlanta’s Revenue Department. This check, for $30, was to cover the penalty assessed to Sharpened Stone, LLC for failing to report $0 revenue for 2013 in a timely fashion.

Today’s Personal Project
Exercise not spoiled by mega-caloric intake.

Stats & GoalsDailyCurrent Mood – would be better had I not misplaced my racquetball shoesCurrent Music – silence at the momentWebsite Of The Day – I listen to a lot of podcasts and some of my favorite are now part of a collective known as Radiotopia.Mode Of Transportation To Work – my carExercise (b)Log – nothingMorning Weigh-In – Arg, I keep failing to jump on the scale

April Goals
– have European trip plans in place, if not carved in stone
– clean my basement to the point where I could have people over
– hire a plumber to fix all of the sinks at the ITP Estate
– walk no fewer than 75 miles

2014 Goals: Measurable
– Get my weight down to 190 pounds so that I can wear a 36″ waist pants comfortably
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Completely run at least one 10k
– Fix all (or at least most) of the things which are wrong with the ITP Estate
– Sell the ITP Estate (tentative)

2014 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Continue to Simplify, simplify, simplify
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)

8 Comments so far

Barb on
April 15th, 2014 @ 08:55

wow- an early posted blog!
HIMYM – it was one of those shows that was funny at times, not funny at times.
I didn’t start watching from the beginning, but I liked it ok. (most of the time). It was like many comedies these days, sometimes just not funny. But – I watched it until the end, but I’m so very glad it is over.

I did NOTHING last night, I think the pollen (& now the molds that come out when it rains) have got me just tired. I guess Allan invited TJ & Mary over for dinner tonight, as a belated birthday dinner for TJ. I have no idea what we are making, I hope Allan does some grocery shopping after he gets done at Hyox.

Also- an editorial comment – if you want Allan to fix your bike (especially in a fairly quick turn around time) you shouldn’t leave it for him caked in mud. I seriously thought about leaving it sit outside in the rain last night.

I fell asleep before 10pm, woke up again around 11pm, and then went back to sleep around midnight. I slept nearly straight through to 5am at which time I got up and got into work a little before 7am.

I would have to take my bikes out of the basement in order to get them dirty.

Steve on
April 15th, 2014 @ 09:13

I was flat-out whipped all day yesterday and when I got home, I tried to ride the couch for an extended length of time, but I rallied and got my chores done- unload and put up tools from the weekend, clear some debris so the painter could at least pressure wash part of the house (it already looks great) and try and repair the lanwmower. The belt was still in tact, so I simply had to clean the mower deck and re-thread the belt. There was so much crap on the deck that the tensioner must have gotten stuck, leading to the belt derailment. Took a bit longer than expected, but still successful.

If I’m still dragging at the end of today, I might just take a half day tomorrow, instead of working from home before the check in with the oncologist.

And tomorrow is… wait for it… Legendary 3rd Wednesday! (a reference to HIMYM). Debbie is scheduled to be in attendance, so make plans to attend.

I *may* be at George’s tomorrow night, it all depends on whether I go tomorrow night or Thursday night to the concert in which my boss and former co-worker are singing. I’m leaning toward going Thursday night so that I can hit George’s tomorrow and then attend their concert on the night on which they’ll more likely to go out and have fun afterward.

Barb on
April 15th, 2014 @ 09:22

I’m not sure about George’s….. I really need to balance the checking account, look at how much money we actually spent on vacation to see if we are broke or not.

Martha on
April 15th, 2014 @ 10:23

Yesterday seemed like a rough day all around. I was dragging all day and not getting anything accomplished. So after a hour of reading Game of Thrones Wiki, I just left…on top of that my shoulder has been killing me all weekend. I have no idea what I’ve done but I made an appointment to see Dr. Cho on Thursday. It’s just that bad

Speaking of bikes, anyone doing the WH3/BSH3 on Sunday? If my virgin comes, I’ll be there…if he doesn’t, I still might show up.

Barb on
April 15th, 2014 @ 11:40

I don’t trust the hares, I’m not a fan of hike-a-bike, so I’ll be skipping WH3/BSH3. (Allan is working) Last time I did a WH down is that area, I was so annoyed with the hike-a-bike.
Also – I think we are doing our annual Easter morning ride on Silver Comet.

Debbie on
April 15th, 2014 @ 11:46

Still got a truckload of boards to take to the dump. I’m trying to wait out the rain, which sounds better than flat out procrastinating. The house is fully pressure washed and prepped for painting, now it has to quit raining and warm up enough for Jimmie to start painting. Mother Nature is drunk.

I started binge watching House of Cards yesterday. Kevin Spacey is perfectly cast and Robin Wright is playing a very interesting character as his wife. I’m halfway through season one, and enjoying it so far. One of my friends said an episode in season two completely turned her off the show, so we’ll see if I feel the same about it.

Brownie cracked us up last night. He drug one of the carpet runners in the dog room into his crate. I should’ve taken a picture- it was lining the bottom of the crate and then trailing out the front and he was curled up on it making himself at home. He’ll be rearranging the furniture next.